David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Is the deployment of a cluster munition indiscriminate by definition? I guess the United States would characterise the deployment of munitions when they are deployed against enemy armoured formations or in a counterartillery role—but I am not here to debate the US deployment of these weapons and I am not here to debate the effect of those weapons, and not for a moment am I going to put myself forward as an expert in how these things are deployed. I guess I am taking issue with the use of inflammatory language that I think does not do justice to the longstanding commitment of the United States to using minimal force and precision weapons wherever possible. I think their record in trying to avoid collateral damage is a worthy one and stands in contrast to many other nations and, indeed, many other nations who deploy cluster munitions.